BUDDHIST SITES OF AFGHANISTAN AND WEST CENTRAL ASIA (III BC-VIII AD)

J.-M. DEOM Kazakh Scientific Research Institute on the Problems of the Cultural Heritage of the Nomads (KazNII-PKNN),Almaty, Kazakhstan

CONTENT

INTRODUCTION1 - AFGHANISTAN

1.1 - Nagarahara (Kabul valley)1.2 - Kapisa (Kabul, Panjshir, Ghorband valleys)1.3 - Arachosia (Ghazni and Arghandab valleys)1.4 - Bamiyan (Damian and Band-i Amir valleys)1.5 - Bactria (Kunduz and Balkh valleys)

2 – WEST CENTRAL ASIA2.1 - Termez and Chaghaniyan (Surkhandarya valley)2.2 – Kobadian (Kafirnigan valley)2.3 – Khuttalan (Vaksh and Pyandj valleys)2.4 – Margiana (Murghab valley)2.5 - Sogdia (Zeravshan valley)2.6 - Fergana2.7 – Semirechie (Chu valley)

CONCLUSIONSREFERENCES

INTRODUCTION

The main goal of this article is to provide an annotated inventory of the Buddhist sites located atthe western and northern periphery of Gandhara in Afghanistan and in former Soviet Central Asia.It constitutes the raw information for the database critically interpreted in another article presentedin these proceedings concerning the historical development of the Central Asian Buddhist sitesand schools1. The justification of such a compilation is, on one side, the absence of a comprehensive catalogueof the Buddhist sites of Afghanistan (it exists for West Central Asia)2 and, on the other, theabsence of an exhaustive essay putting together the sites of these two regions that have beenclosely interconnected during the diffusion of Buddhism3.

The rise and development of Buddhist monuments in Gandhara happens almost synchronicallywith its diffusion in Central Asia, including Afghanistan, West (or Soviet) and East Central Asia(Xinjiang). Here we will not examine the sites of Xinjiang because they already received a goodtreatment and a wide international diffusion through exhibitions and publications at the same levelof those of Gandhara. The diffusion in Afghanistan and West Central Asia started roughly together with the Kushanempire (I-III AD) and declined with the occupation of the Arabs (VIII AD), even if Buddhismtouched Afghanistan already during the III BC and Buddhist monuments survived in the Chu

1 See the article of R. Sala, “The Spread of Buddhism from Gandhara to South and West Central Asia”. Articlesubmitted at the International Workshop on Gandharan Heritage, Islamabad, Pakistan, 1-3 December2010.

2 Stavisky, 19983 Even if the article of B.Litvinsky BA (1989) ‘Buddhist sites in Afghanistan and Central Asia’ represents a shorter

but quite representative overview of the sites presented in this article.

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valley (Kyrgyzstan) till the X AD4.During the first centuries of the diffusion, from Gandhara to the northern bank of the Amu-

Darya can be found the same type of monasteries with quadrangular plan surrounding a yard(Shotorak, Fayaz-tepe, Ushturmullo…), similar cave complexes cut in alluvial cliffs (Basawal,Bamiyan, Takht-i-Rustam, Kara-tepe), analogous stupas with engraved base, circular drum andspherical dome (Darunta, Topdara, Airtam…), statues of Buddha, Bodhisattvas and devas withsame iconographic standards, carved in schist and more often in stucco (Hadda, Bagram,Bamiyan, Dalverzin-tepe …), related bas-relief with scenes of Jataka stories and Corinthiancapitals (Hadda, Bagram, Airtam…). The Kushan art of Hadda, Kapisa, Kara-tepe, Airtam andDelbarjin is the direct continuation of those of Peshawar, Swat, Buner and Taxila. The maindifference was the use of adobe masonry in the north and of stone in the south. But during theKushano-Sasanid (300-500 AD) and Hephtalite-Turkic (500-900 AD) phases, the Buddhist artisticproduction of Afghanistan and West Central Asia is already the product of a local manufacture(Kabul, Bamiyan, Balkh, Delbarjin, Ushtur-Mullo for the transitional period; Tepe-Shotor, Tepe-Sardar, Ajina-Tepe, Penjikent for the last production) and show a strong regional style mixingIranian, Indian and Central Asian iconographies and concurring with the artistic centres ofGandhara and Mathura. Knowledge about the existence of Buddhist sites in Afghanistan and Western Central Asia hadbeen already recorded by travelling Chinese pilgrims at the time of their full activity (Fa Xian,travel 399-412; Xuan Zang, 629-645; Yi Jing, 671-695; Hui Chao, 723-726 …), by Arabicauthors at the time of their decline or ruins (al-Faqih, d. 912, al-Biruni, 973-1048; Yaqubi; d. 997,Yaqut 1179-1229, etc.), by Western travellers during the following medieval time (Marco Polo,1271-1295; Van Ruysbroeck, 1253-1255…). Their rediscovery happened in Afghanistan by some19th century explorers like the British horse-dealer W. Moorcroft (1819-1825), the HungarianHonigsberger (1832), and the East Indian Company antiquarian C. Masson who provided the firstsite maps and amateur excavations (1834-37). No ruins of Buddhist monuments were known inWestern Central Asia before their first excavations by Soviet archaeologists in the 1920’ies andmainly after World War II.

In Afghanistan the first scientific studies happened in 1922 with the French DAFA (FrenchArchaeological Delegation in Afghanistan) working in Balkh, Bamiyan, Kabul, Kapisa, Hadda.After a long gap, their researches restarted after the Taliban rule in 2003 (Bamiyan, Kabul, Balkh,Wardak). After World War II, the Buddhist sites of Afghanistan involved Japanese archaeologistsof the Kyoto University working from 1959 in Nagahara, Lalma (Hadda) and Basawal, and from1967 in Bactria, Takht-i-Rustam (Haibak), Durman-tepe and Chakalak-tepe (Kunduz). The ItalianInstitute for the Middle and Far East (ISMEO) studied the Buddhist sites of the Tepe-Sardar(Ghazni) from 1959 to 1962. Soviet archaeologists worked in the site of Delbarjin-tepe near Balkhin 1969-1973. The Afghan Institute of Archaeology (AIA) investigated many Buddhist sitesstarting in Tepe-Shotor (Hadda) in 1965 and from 1973 to nowadays in Kabul region, Bamiyan,Bagram, Hadda.

In Soviet Central Asia, the first Buddhist sites of Bactria-Tokharistan were discovered nearTermez in 1926-28 by the Moscow Museum of Oriental Cultures, and at Aïrtam in the 1930’s byexcavations in Kara-tepe. In 1940, the Semirechie expeditions led by A. Bernshtam excavated theearly medieval towns of the Chu valley and revealed the first local Buddhist monuments in Ak-Beshim and Krasnaya Rechka. In 1946, the Sogdian Buddhist culture was made known throughthe excavations of Penjikent. The major archaeological work of the second half of the century is due to 3 persons who providedalso the best historical reconstructions (see bibliography): B. Stavisky who worked during the

4 See the chronology of the diffusion in 7 phases in the article of R. Sala [Phase I (Mauryan-IndoGreek, III-IIBC); II (Saka-Parthian, I BC - I AD); III (Kushan, II-III AD); IV (LateKushan-Sasanid-Kidarite IV-VAD): V(Hephtalite-Sasanid-Turk, VI-VIII AD); VI (Tibetan-Uighur, IX-XV AD) and VII (Mongol-Jungar, 1578-1750AD)].

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1960-70’s in the region of Termez (Kara-tepe, Fayaz-tepe, Airtam); B. Litvinsky who studiedduring the 60’s the monuments of East Tadjikistan (Adjina-tepe, Kafyr-kala); and G.Pugachenkova who excavated Airtam and Dalverzin-tepe in the 1960’s. In Fergana andSemirechie the Buddhist monuments were excavated from the 1953 till the end of the 1980’s (andhave retarded in 2010).The discovery of such a high number of Buddhist sites in the 1960’s made of the diffusion ofBuddhism in Western Central Asia a western parallel to the Buddhist sites of Xinjiang, whichwere already well known through the explorations of A. Stein, P. Pelliot and A. Von Le Coq from1900 to 1930. At first the Soviet archaeologists supposed that the Buddhism spread in West andEast Central Asia happened simultaneously from the common spring in Gandhara. But subsequentdiscoveries made in East Tadjikistan, Sogdia, Fergana and Semirechie (sites belonging to the 4 th

and 5th phases) revealed that the diffusion occurred from different centres, being that the maincentres were changing location with time, basically moving from Gandhara during the first phasesto Afghanistan and to Xinjiang during the following phases.

1 - AFGHANISTAN

The Buddhist sites of Afghanistan are around 60 in number, located in 4 historical regions:Nagarahara (Jalalabad), Arachosia (Ghazni, Kandahar), Kapisa (Kabul, Begram), Bactria(Balkh), and in the Bamiyan province (Damian and upper Band-i Amir valleys) (ill.01).The development of Buddhism in Afghanistan happened during the first 5 phases of its generalspread in Central Asia: 1- Mauryan-IndoGreek (III-I BC), 2- Saka-Parthian (I BC - I AD), 3-Kushan (II-III AD, the peak period), 4- Kushano-Sasanid-Kidarite (IV-V AD) and 5- Hephtalite-Sasanid-Turkic period (VI-VIII AD).

The main diffusion happened under the early and late Kushan Empire. A recession occurredduring the Hephtalite rule (V-VI AD) when several sites had been destroyed (especially in theKabul and Nagarahara regions); although the last wave of building was initiated under their reign(testified by Bamiyan, Fundukistan and Ghazni) and supported later by the Turks (VI-VIII AD).During the reign of the Turki and Hindu Shahi dynasties (VII-X AD), Hinduist temples spread inthe Kabul region and in Arachosia.

The Kushan period is marked by the building of many monasteries, cave-temples andvotive stupas concealing Buddha’s relics. The Kushano-Sasanid period emphasized colossalstatuaries representations of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. The Hephtalite-Turkic period shows anew artistic trend blending Indian Gupta, Sasanid and late Gandharan styles inspired byMahayana and Vajrayana schools; and is also characterized by the blending of Hinduist andBuddhist pantheons under the Shahis (VII-X AD).

We present here down the main sites by regions, following the geographical successionSouth-North and East-West, which corresponds almost adequately to the historical spread. Theonly exception is represented by Nagarahara that, by constituting the first reach and mainbifurcation in the diffusion of Buddhism from Gandhara, is treated before the southernmostregion of Arachosia.

1.1 - Nagarahara (Nangarahar, Kabul valley, regional centre: Jalalabad)

The Nagarahara region includes the portion of the Kabul valley going from the Pakistan border inthe east (Khyber pass) to the confluence of the Laghman river in the west. It has been oftenconsidered as a western sub-region of Gandhara. The Buddhist sites are located on both sides ofthe alluvial plain of the Kabul river. Buddhism reached the area already during the III BC under

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Fig.1- Map of the Buddhist sites of Afghanistan (Deom, Sala, 2010)

Asoka as testified by a rock edict found in Lampaka but the earliest Buddhist buildings consist ofhundred of stupas located around Darunta and attributed to the Saka-Parthian time (2d phase) andby elegant stucco-sculptures of the Hadda stupas executed in a late Indo-Bactrian style occurringat the beginning of our era (3d phase).

Sites. From east to west the main sites are the following ones: Kama Dakka, south of the Kabul river, 8 km northwest of the Khyber Pass, is a site holding

the ruins of a Buddhist monastery where fragments of schist sculptures and stucco were found(II-VII AD).

Basawal, 70 km east of Jalalabad, is made of several groups of caves with more than 100cells including meeting halls and monks cells (IV-V AD) spreading over 3,5 km of cliffs onthe north side of the river.

The region around Jalalabad is very rich in Buddhist sites which could be grouped in 3 mainareas: Hadda in the southeast, Kuhna-Deh in the north and Darunta in the west. The cluster of

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Hadda is located 8 km south of modern Jalalabad and is made of several Buddhist complexes(Tepe-i-Shotor, Chakhil-i-Ghoundi, Tepe-Kalān, Tepe--i-Kafariha, Bagh-gai, Tepe-Zargarān, Lalma) distributed all together in an area of 15 km2, including stupas (over 1000),monasteries and artificial caves (II-VIII AD). The artifacts of Hadda consist of clay andstucco sculpture, many gold and silver, reliquaries and several Kharoshti inscriptions. Thepeak of the Kushan phase of building happened during the III AD. Eventually the transition tothe Kushano-Sasanid rule (300-500 AD) slowed down the process even if a new wave of con-struction reached the site under the Turkic rule during the VII AD, as testified by the bas-re-lief of the Tepe-i-Shotor monastery similar to other ones met in Central Asia from Tepe-Sar-dar (Ghazni) to Ajina-tepe (East Tokharistan) and Penjikent (Sogdia). The site was burneddown during the VIII AD.

In the same region but closer to Jalalabad (2 km south), the site of Ahin Push Tepe, locatedon a hill west of the road to Hadda, consists of a stupa-monastery complex (II-V AD) withfragments of colossal figures. The central stupa had a double platform and concealed a goldreliquary.

To the North of Jalalabad, on the right bank of the Kunar valley, in Kuhna Deh, there is alarge stupa-monastery complex with caves (I-III AD). The small stupa has an intact dome andthe monastery with its walls still standing is equally well preserved.

The sites located at the west of Jalalabad closer to the Darunta dam include Chahar Bagh (orLal Qal'a, 9 km southwest of Jalalabad), a stupa-monastery complex (I-V AD) with reliquaryand Saka coins and Nagara Ghundi, 4 km west of Jalalabad, south of the confluence of theSurkhud and Kabul rivers, holding the remains of a very large stupa (100 m circumference, I-VI AD) which could be the Nagara stupa saw by Xuan Zang in 631.

Located just in front of the previous site but on the right bank of the Kabul river, Fil Khana(“Elephant House”), 5 km northwest of Jalalabad, is a complex of 32 caves (I-III AD includ-ing a large pillar cave surrounded by individual cells in the Indian tradition. On the summit ofthe hill above the cells are the remains of two stupas, the northern one is better preserved andsheltered a gold leafed reliquary.

At the southern foot of the Sia-Koh range, are found 3 sites. Qalai-Kachala is located 3 kmwest of Bimaran and includes stupas and caves (I-III AD). Stretching at both sides of a nar-row gully the caves include one circumambulatory chamber and on the top if the hill arefound the ruins of walls, mounds and stupas. In one of them was found a steatite vase contain-ing small reliquaries, a manuscript and Saka coins minted under Azes I (57-35 BC). In thecultivated plain located 4 km south of Bimaran, the mound of Jani Tup holds the remains of astupa standing on a platform without decoration where coins and reliquary were exhumed.Two mounds of the vicinity are probably the vestiges of other stupas (I-III AD). The most im-portant site is located inside and around the village of Bimaran and consists of 4 large stupas,2 parallel lines of smaller votive stupas and a complex of six artificial caves closer to the foot-hills (I-III AD). All the main stupas except one sheltered a reliquary with treasures. The wellknown golden Bimaran casket with the earliest human representation of Buddha dated to thereign of Azes II (35 BC-1 AD) was found in one of the biggest stupa.

At mid road between Bimaran and Darunta, the site of Nandarra includes several groups ofstupas and caves (I-III AD). The biggest stupa standing on a square platform on the hill sidehas an elaborate frieze with blind arches. Three of the several other smaller stupas were exca-vated for their hoards (Tope-i Kutchera contained coins minted under the IndoGreek rulerHermaeus (90-70 BC) and Azes I, Tope-i Fasl revealed a gold reliquary, Tope-i Hosenamanat,a casket with coins of Azes I).

At the west of the hydropower dam, at the eastern tip of the Sia-Koh mountain, is the site ofPul-i Darunta with fragments of Asoka Edict (III BC) and artificial caves bordering the river.The fragmentary bilingual stone inscription in Aramaic and Prakrit from a Pillar Edict wasfound in 1932.

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Two other Asoka edicts are located 15 km northwest, on the western rock side of the Mar-vandigar ridge, on the eastern bank of the river Laghman, in the site of Shalatak (betweenShalatak and Kargha). The best known is the stone tablet of Lampaka discovered in 1968 andincluding 4 texts, 3 in Sanskrit and one in Aramaic. The second Asoka inscription, in Ara-maic, was discovered in 1973. The rocks bear also petroglyphs of animals.

Historical accounts. According to the Chinese monk Fa Xian, who crossed Nagarahara in 403AD, there were in the region many more Buddhist establishments than the ones revealed byarchaeology. In Jalalabad existed a stupa and a shrine conserving the relic of a Buddha’s tooth;and in Hadda a monastery where was conserved the flat bone skull of the Buddha, protectedunder order of the king by 8 members of the local aristocracy. At the turn of the V-VI AD, Nagarahara, as Gandhara, suffered from a wave of destruction madeby some Hephtalite rulers and will never recover from its previous glory. When in 630 the monkXuan Zang crossed Nagarahāra, ruled at the time by the kings of Kapisa, most of the Buddhistsites of Jalalabad were abandoned and the ones of Hadda were damaged but still in activity.

Schools and styles. The ancient Kharosthi manuscripts (I-III AD) discovered in the region ofJalalabad (and acquired and studied by the British Museum and by the University of Washington)testify that, among the early schools active in the region, especially important were theDharmaguptaka and the Sarvastivada. Among these manuscripts are counted some importanttexts like the Dhammapada, few main Suttas, some Avadana stories and some Abhidharma texts.There is also the reference to a polemic against the Mahayana school probably present in theregion from the first wave of the diffusion.The monasteries of Hadda represent both the early and mature artistic trends of Buddhist art inthe region starting with pure Indo-Greek sculptures like the statue of Buddha surrounded byHerakles and Tyche at Tepe-i-Shotor (II AD) to the Boddhisattva called the “Spirit with flowers”of Tepe-Kalan (IV-V AD) who anticipate the last artistic phase represented by Fundukistan.

1.2 - Arachosia (Ghazni and Arghandab valleys, regional centres: Ghazni, Kandahar)

The ancient kingdom of Arachosia conquered by the Greeks and the Mauryans, lies in the plainsouth of the Hindu Kush. Kandahar has always remained the capital town of the region, at thejunction of the highways from Kabul, Herat and Quetta and the main commercial centre of southAfghanistan. The diffusion of Buddhism occurred here between the III BC and VIII AD.The earliest Buddhist monuments are 2 edicts of Asoka found in the old city of Kandahar (1st

phase). The other Buddhist sites are attributed to phases 3, 4, 5 (Kushan, Kushano-Sasanid andHephtalite-Turkic).

Sites. The main sites, from south to north, are the following: In Kandahar’s old city located 3 km at the west of the modern town, several major Buddhist

remains have been discovered: two Asoka inscriptions (III BC), the first a bilingual Greek-Aramaic inscription on a massive boulder and the second a purely Greek inscription; and, atthe south of the citadel on the ridge overlooking the city walls from the south, the ruins of aBuddhist stupa-monastery complex with important stone sculptures and wall paintings (III–VII AD) was documented.

Ab-i-Istada, located 100 km south of Moqor between Ghazni and Kandahar, consists of 3large stupa complexes (dated by C14 to 150 AD).

Located 35 km northwest of Moqor, west of the road towards Ghazni in the valley of a tribu-tary of the Argandab river, the site of Humai Qal'a consists of a group of caves dug at differ-

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ent levels in a cliff face (IV-V AD). The cells, some vaulted but without decoration, areinterconnected by corridors and stairs.

Located in the southeastern periphery of modern Ghazni, on the top of the large mound ofTepe-Sardar, stands a very large stupa-monastery complex dated to 2 periods of building (III-V and VII-VIII AD) consisting of a main large stupa (the biggest in Afghanistan) surroundedby many votive small stupas and chapels where colossal clay statues including a 18 m longParinirvana Buddha and frescoes were exhumed by Italian archaeologists. The site also in-cluded a Hindu temple with a statue of Durga Mahishasuramardini.

At 2 km west in Gudul-e-Ahangaran miniature stupas and unbaked clay tablets inscribed inSanskrit were also discovered.

Historical accounts. Xuan Zang, who crossed Ghazni (Hexina) in 644 on his way back to China,reports that the local people have “considerable skill in magical sentences but they have no goodaim in view. They daily repeat several myriads of words (…) Although they worship a hundredspirits, yet they also reverence the three precious ones (Buddhism). There are several hundredmonasteries with around 1000 monks. They all study the Great Vehicle (…). There are some tenstupas built by Asoka-raja, and several tens of Deva temples, in which sectaries of variousdenominations dwell together”5.

Schools and styles. Xuan Zang quotes that in 644 AD Ghazni was a center of late Buddhistdevelopment, blending Hinduist, Mahayana and Vajrayana elements. And in fact, the frescoes andthe statuaries of Tepe-Sardar, representing the last artistic phase of Buddhism in Afghanistan,show similarities with synchronous ones from the sites of Bamiyan and Fundukistan.

1.3 - Kapisa (Kabul, Panjshir, upper Ghorband valleys, regional centre: Kabul)

The historical region of Kapisa is situated in southern part of the Hindukush range and is made of2 sub-regions: the plain of Koh-Daman and its surrounding mountain neighborhoods with Kabulin the south; Kapisa itself, located north of Koh-Daman at the confluence of the Panjshir andGhorband river valleys.Buddhism spread here during the Kushan period when stupas and the first monasteries were builtin the Koh-Daman valley (in and near Kabul) and in the summer capital of the Kushans nearBagram (ancient Kapisa). Under the reign of the Hephtalites, several Buddhist monuments wereabandoned in Kapisa but others met a new phase of construction (Tepe Maranjan) whichextended till the Turkic rule (VI-IX AD) characterized by the new artistic trends found in the lastsculptures of Shotorak (Bagram).

Sites. The main sites, from south to north and from east to west, are the following. At 90 km south of Kabul in the Kharwar valley of the Logar province, the site of Kafir-Kot is

a huge fortified monastery complex with stupas and statues (III-VII AD) still unexcavated butpartially looted.

At the southwest of Kabul at the west of the road Kabul-Ghazni in the Wardak province,near the confluence of the Beksamand and Djilga rivers, the site of Wardak is located outsidea Kushan walled town and consists of a fortified stupa-monastery complex (II-IVAD) where asteatite vase with Kharoshthi inscription was discovered.

In the Nirkh district (Wardak province) the site of Al-Ghata (DAFA, 2005-10) is a largestupa-monastery complex with huge statues (II-IVAD) located on a slope under an ancientcastle.

5 Beal S (1884) Digital version 2.0 (2005) passage concerning Tsau-ku-ch'a (Arachosia)’s capital Ho-si-na (Ghazni)

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Located 30 km south of Kabul in the Logar province near the village of Gol Hamid in thecopper mine deposits of Mès Aynak a group of several Buddhist complexes covering almost300 ha is today the object of archaeological rescue (DAFA-AIA, 2009) before the exploitationof the mines by the Chinese Metallurgical Group Corporation (start planned for 2014). Thearea includes several monasteries like Gol Hamid, Kafirkot tepe, Shah tepe, Shesh karez,Tepe Kafiriat…which have revealed many stupas, temples and monk cells, wall paintings,more than 150 statues including a 5 m long sleeping Buddha (II-VI AD).

At 10 km at the south of Kabul on a rock above the Logar river near the village of Saka aresituated the ruins of a fortified monastery (V AD).

Located 15 km southeast of Kabul and overlooking the plain from the top of the Munarairange, are standing 3 Buddhist sites with Kushan period stupas: the southernmost is located inthe Musa-i-Logar valley near the mountain pass of Guldara where is situated a well preservedstupa-monastery complex (III-VI AD); the second is located 2 km north near the mountainpass of Munarai where stands the pillar of Minar-i-Chakri which consists of a cylindrical dia-per masonry pillar on a square base resembling Indian columns of the Mauryan period (II-VAD); 2 km further north at the south of Yakhdara village is located the stupa of Shewaki (I-IX AD), other stupas and a enclosed monastery are located further west.

In Kabul most of the Buddhist sites are situated at the southeast of the town around theTakht-i-shah mountain: the southernmost complex stretches at the south of the Hasmatkhanlake among modern buildings and consists of several stupa-monastery sites with caves andsanctuary cells with frescoes (II-V AD); further north on the eastern flank of Takht-i-shah,Tepe Naranj is a stupa-monastery which revealed statues, wall paintings and manuscript frag-ments (II-V AD); in the north of the ridge, 800 m west of Bala Hissar, the site located nearthe shrine of Khwaja Safa includes another important stupa-monastery complex (IV-V AD);down the point of the Šher Darvaza hill behind the Avicenna Hospital, Tepe-Khazana (Treas-ure Hill) revealed 60 stucco heads belonging to a group of unexcavated Buddhist buildings(V-VII AD) and the largest site is located 1,5 km at the northeast of Bala Hissar under thesouthern slope of Tepe Maranjan where 2 stupa-monastery complexes with reliquary, wallpaintings and 7 stupas have been discovered (I-VI AD).

Along the road going from Kabul to Begram are located several Buddhist sites such as thefortified tell of Tepe-Iskander, located 15 km north of Kabul with 2 stupas (II-IVAD) situatedat its foot and including a Hinduist complex built under the Turki and Hindu Shahis (VII-IXAD), Mir-Bacha-Kot (also called Serai-Khoja), located 30 km north of Kabul, where 2 largeschist statues of standing Buddha and remains of few buildings (III-VII AD) were exhumedand Topdarra (Valley of the Stupa), 6 km south of Charikar, where a well preserved 20 mhigh Buddhist stupa (II-IV AD) with Indo-Corinthian pilasters is located. In the northernvicinity of Topdarra are situated 2 monasteries with courtyards and small stupas.

At 12 km east of Charikar near the long mound stretching along the Panjshir river where is lo-cated the Greek and Kushan walled town of Bagram (ancient Kapisa), are found several Bud-dhist sites which have exhumed most of the essential sculptures of early and late Gandharanstyles. Paitawa is a stupa-monastery complex with important Gandharan schist statuary (II-IVAD) located 4 km at the east of the road Kabul-Charikar, 16 km southwest of the tell ofBagram. At the east of the fortified tell of Bagram are located 3 sites: at 1 km east on a rockoutcrop (Koh-i-tope) hanging above the Panjshir river is the monastery of Karatcha, a stupa-monastery complex with Gandharan statues (II-IV AD), further east closer of the hill of Koh-i-pahlavan, once covered with Buddhist sites and stupas, the stupa-monastery site of Qol-i-Nader which revealed an unique reliquary (II-VII AD), and further north above the right bankof the Panjshir river, the well-known site of Shotorak, a small cloistered including 8 stupas(II-VII AD) which could have been the summer residence where the Kushan king Kanishkakept hostages from China as reported by Xuan Zang.

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North of the valley, on the left bank of the Panjshir river 14 km southeast of Golbahar at thefoot of the Kuh-i Kham-i Zargar mountain, the stupa-monastery complex of Kuh-e-Mori, hasrevealed a 25m high stupa among other smaller ones and a monastery below the hill (IV-VAD).

Located 60 km at the west of Kapisa in the Gurband valley, five kilometers south of Sauhgerdis located the site of Fundukistan which includes a square temple consisting of a huge court-yard, with a square stupa in the middle and an adjoining building connected to it by a vaultedpassage built in adobe and made of cells, congregation halls and other rooms (VII-VIII AD).

Historical accounts. Fa Xian, who in 404 AD crossed the region southeast of Kabul called Luoyi(Northeast Logar province, probably the area of Azrow), reports about the presence of around3000 monks belonging to both Hinayana and Mahayana schools. Xuan Zang crossed Kapisatwice, in 630 and on his way back in 644. In Kapisa, he reports the presence of 100 monasterieswith more then 6000 monks mainly Mahayanists and in the northern piedmonts near Kapisa hesaw a large monastery with 300 monks all Hinayanists.

Schools and styles . According to the ancient Buddhist Kharoshti manuscripts found in the regionof Kabul, the most influential early schools were the Dharmaguptaka and Sarvastivada. The early Buddhist artistic phase is well embodied in the architecture of the stupas of Kabul(Tepe Naranj, Shewaki) and in the Gandharan sculptures of Shotorak and Paitawa, while thetransitional style (IV-V AD) represented by the clay sculptures of Tepe Maranjan and TepeKhazana anticipate the late Buddhist artistic trend (VII-VIII AD) illustrated by the sculptures ofFundukistan as a syncretism of Graeco-Bactrian, Sasanid and Gupta-Indian religiousiconography.

1.4 - Bamiyan province (Damian and upper Band-i Amir valleys)

This geographical more than historical region corresponds to the mountain valleys delimiting theadministrative province of Bamiyan. It includes the lower Ghorband, the Damian and the upperBand-i Amir valleys. This region provides the most convenient transit for moving between northand south Afghanistan and is crossed by 2 roads connecting Kapisa to Bactria, one goingnorthwest of Bamiyan reaches Balkh through the Band-i Amir valley, the second follows theSurkhab valleys till the fork of Pul-i Khumri and further North to Khulm or Kunduz. The diffusion of Buddhism occurred here between the II and VIII AD.

Sites. Most of the sites are grouped around the valley of Bamiyan. The site of Bamiyan, built in the northern cliffs of the Damian valley just above the modern

town, consists of a large Buddhist monastic centre including around 750 artificial caves withsculptures and frescos (III-VIII AD), 2 large standing statues of Buddha blown up by the Tal-iban in 2001 (smaller one 38 m high and bigger one 53 m high, both carved at the beginningof the VI AD) and a large stupa at Sheikhraza (III-VIII AD). Other remains of Buddhist build-ings in the vicinity of the colossal statues like a monastery and a stupa located at the north-west of Shahr-i Gholghola have been unearthed during the last years. During the IV-VII AD,the region of Bamiyan became the main Buddhist center of Afghanistan.

The adjacent western perpendicular Foladi Valley (village of Deh-i-Ahangaran), includes thenumerous painted caves of Kalai Ghamai and Qoul-i Akram (V-VII AD), some are four andfive stories high and have frescos and decorations of "lantern" ceilings.

In the Kakrak Valley, 3 km southeast of the cliff, are located a 15 m high standing Buddha ina niche surrounded by caves with paintings (like the representation of Maitreya surrounded byseated Buddhas in medallions in the Hunter King cave) constituting the final period of Bud-dhism at Bamiyan (VI-XIII AD).

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Around 120 km at the west of Bamiyan, along the Band-e-Amir valley, near the village ofKeligan (6 km east of the fort Chil-Borji), a stupa-monastery complex (III-VII AD?) includ-ing a 2-storey dome-shaped temple with a lecture hall has been recently identified by Japa-nese historian6.

Historical accounts. In 630, coming down from Balkh, probably through the Balkh and Band-iAmir valleys, Xuan Zang stayed in a country named Jiechi (Gachi?) just before crossing themountains towards Bamiyan. This region had 10 monasteries and about 200 monks, all belongingto the Sarvastivadas, and might corresponds to the region near the Buddhist site of Keligan.In Bamiyan he reported the existence of ten convents and about 1000 priests belonging to theHinaya and the Lokottaravadin school, even if his local guide belonged to the Mahasamgika sect.Hui Chao, a monk of Korean origin who visited Bamiyan around 727 AD, wrote that here“monasteries and priests are abundant” following both Hinayana and Mahayana traditions.

Schools and styles . According to the ancient Buddhist Kharoshti manuscripts found in the regionof Bamiyan (British Library, University of Washington, Schoyen collection), the most influentialearly schools were the Dharmaguptaka and Sarvastivada. In the early VII AD, according to XuanZang, the Lokottaravadins were predominant in Bamiyan, although the Mahasanghika was alsoactive as testified by some fragments of manuscripts (VI-VIII AD) related to the Mahasanghikaand Sarvastivadin schools found in Bamiyan7. During the VIII AD Hui Chao testifies theimportance of Mahayana schools. Concerning Buddhist arts, the sculptures and frescoes of Bamiyan of the VI-VIII centuries arecharacterized by a syncretism of Greco-Bactrian, Sasanid and Gupta-Indian religiousiconography. In Bamiyan, especially in the Foladi Valley, the lantern roof of the caves is astylistic imitation of the wooden ceilings found still today in Wakhan and Nuristan. In Kakrak,the panels depicting repeated circles of seating Buddhas are early Vajrayana representationssimilar to the ones found today in Nepal and Tibet.

1.5-Bactria (Kunduz and Balkh valleys, regional centre: Balkh)

The historical region of Bactria, renamed Tokharistan at the end of the Sasanid period (IV AD),is located at the north of the Hindukush with the main centers along the Amudarya river, whichdivides Northern Bactria (Termez, UZ) from its central and southern part located in Afghanistan.The 2 Afghan sub-regions are: South Bactria, consisting of the northern piedmonts of theHindukush, hosting the cities of Baghlan and Samangan (where is located the site of Surkh-Kotal,summer residence of the Kushans); and Central Bactria consisting of the alluvial plains of theKunduz and Balkh rivers down to their confluence with the Amudarya, hosting the city of Balkh,the most important political center of all Bactria-Tokharistan.The diffusion of Buddhism occurred here between the II and VIII AD during phases 3, 4, 5(Kushan, Kushano-Sasanid and Hephtalite-Turkic).

Sites. The most important sites, from south to north and east to west, are the following ones. At 1 km east of Surkh-Kotal, the ancient dynastic temple of the Kushans (II-III AD) located

19km northwest of Pul-i-Khumri, a Buddhist shrine with decorated pilasters has been docu-mented.

At Shamkala, in the northeastern periphery of modern Baghlan, the remains of a stupa-monastery complex consist of a square fortified mound containing a stupa with Buddhist bas-

6 Discovered by Meiji Yamada as reported by his conference in UCLA. See: http://www.international.ucla.edu/buddhist/events/showevent.asp?eventid=1768

7 The Sanskrit manuscripts coming from an excavation made by J.Hackin (DAFA) in 1930 are mostly treatises of the Abhidharma but include also a portion of the Vinaya of the Mahasanghikas. See: Litvinskii, 1989.

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reliefs and limestone capitals and another mound at its west is considered to incorporate amonastery (II–VIIAD).

In the Kunduz valley in the vicinity of modern Kunduz, several Buddhist sites have been doc-umented: on the double walled settlement of Chakalak tepe located 11 km south of Kunduzwere discovered the fragments of a stupa, a building made of several rooms and importantfindings like limestone sculptures and 15 pillar bases (IV-VAD); in Durman Tepe situated 8km south of Kunduz were found the remains of a Buddhist building dated to the same period;the ancient walled town of Kunduz (Bala Hisar) have disclosed some limestone fragments, aBuddha’s head and Kharoshthi inscription on a vase (II-VIIAD); but the richest remains areassociated with the mound of Tepe Ahingaran located 2 km northeast of Bala Hisar, wherewere excavated 2 stupa-monastery complexes including stucco panels, many sculptures, Bud-dha heads, stone column bases and Corinthian capitals probably belonging to a stupa (II-VIIAD).

In the Samangan valley, the site of Takht-i-Rustam, situated 2 km south of modern Haibak,is a cave-monastery complex carved in the rock (IV-VAD). The monastery is made of 5 cellsincluding 2 special rooms, the smaller, probably a chapel, has decorated domed ceiling andthe big one (22x22m) could act as lecture hall. The stupa is located in an adjacent hill in frontof other less elaborated caves.

The region of Balkh includes several Buddhist sites: Tapa Rustam and Takht-i-Rustam are 2mounds located in the southern outskirts of modern Balkh outside the medieval city walls, thefirst one, on the west of the road, is topped by a 61 m high stupa and the second, on the east,contains the remains of a monastery which could be the Navavihara seen by Xuan Zangwhere were preserved several sacred relics of the Buddha (II-VIII AD).

Southeast of the ancient walled town of Balkh (Bala Hisar) on the mound of Tepe Zargaran,the oldest Buddhist ruins of Bactria has been recently excavated (DAFA 2004), they belong toa stupa (II-IVAD) destroyed by a Sasanid irrigation channel, with a cubic platform andCorinthian columns similar to the architecture of Surkh-Kotal and revealed a reliquary withKushan coins dated to the reign of Soter Megas (80-95 AD).

On the top of the mound of Nadir tepe located 3,5km to the northwest of Bala Hisar, the ruinsof a possible stupa-monastery complex (II-VIIAD) consisting of the base of a stupa with stair-case and a non excavated square walled structure.

Delbarjin, a large antique town located on the plains 40 km northwest of Balkh, has revealeda 3 periods Buddhist temple with an attached sanctuary with frescoes (IV-VAD) similar tothose of Tepe Sardar.

Historical accounts. Xuan Zang, going south through the region in 630 AD, didn’t meet anyBuddhist community in Baghlan and Samangan; but in Khulm, half way between them, where noarchaeological remains have been found yet, he accounted 10 monasteries with 500 monks. In644, on his way back from India north of Kapisa through the Salang pass, Xuan Zang met inAndarab 3 monasteries with tens monks belonging to the Mahasanghika school, and at Khost(Pul-i-Khumri?) 3 monasteries with few monks. In Kunduz there were 10 monasteries withseveral hundred monks belonging to both Hinayana and Mahayana schools. In Balkh, he says,there were 100 monasteries with 3000 monks, all Hinayana. At the southwestern outskirts of thetown was located the monastery Nava-Vihara, built by a former king of this country and led bymasters coming from Kashmir with a statue of Vaiśravana (a protective deity). At the north of themonastery was erected a very high stūpa, enclosing a sacred relic reflecting a divine splendor;and at the southwest, another vihāra built few centuries earlier had several hundreds stupas andplayed as refuge for ascetics with about 100 monks.According to Xuan Zang, each of two towns (Diwei and Poli) located some 25 and 45 kmnorthwest of Balkh (near Delbarjin), had the oldest stupa (10 m high) of Bactria where Buddhistmerchants brought the hair and nail-cuttings of the historical Buddha.

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Schools and styles. From the early Kushan period, Sarvastivadins from Gandhara builtmonasteries in Balkh. One of the eminent founders was Ghosaka (II AD), a master of theSarvastivada Vaibhasika school who participated to the 4th Buddhist council under Kanishka andbuilt the Nava-Vihara of Balkh. From here the Sarvastivada Vaibhasika will spread till Termezand further to North Tarim. Hinayana schools (and particularly of the Sarvastivada) were stilldominant in Bactria till the VII AD, as confirmed by Xuan Zang. But the existence of otherschools like the Dharmaguptaka is attested by a copper reliquary from the Kunduz region with aKharosthi dedicatory inscription for a monk from a monastery of the Dharmaguptaka school8.

2 - WEST CENTRAL ASIA

West Central Asia consists of 5 historical regions: Bactria-Tokharistan (also called NorthernBactria), Margiana (Murghab valley with Merv as main town); Sogdia (Zeravshan valley),Fergana basin and Semirechie (Chu valley) (ill.02). Bactria-Tokharistan is made of 5 sub-regions: Termez and Chaghaniyan both in the Surkhandarya valley, Kubadian in the Kafirniganvalley, Khuttalan in the Vaksh and Pyandj valleys and Badakhshan in the upper Pyandj andWakkhan valleys. The Buddhist sites are 23 with a total of around 30 buildings.

Buddhism arrived in West Central Asia during phases 3 (Kushan, II-III AD), 4 (Kushano-Sasanid, IV-V AD), 5 (Hephtalite-Turkic, VI-VIII AD). An exceptional event has been thebuilding of a Buddhist monument in the XII AD in east Semirechie (Kayilyk on the Jungarianpiedmonts). The main diffusion happened under the Kushans. Recessions happened under thePersian Sasanids when some early sites (mainly in Termez) where disturbed and some of themeven used by Zoroastrians (III-IV AD). Recession and development both happened during theHephtalite rule (V-VI AD) when several sites got abandoned and others were newly rebuilt at thenorth and east of the previous nests (in Chaghaniyan and Khuttalan), where later have beensupported by the Turks (VI-VIII AD). A new wave of construction under the Turks mainlyhappened under the influence of the Buddhist oases of the Tarim basin (Kucha, Turfan) when theCentral Asian Turkic empire was submitted to the Chinese Tang dynasty (657-751) who supportedthe building of Buddhist temples in the Chu and (possibly) the Fergana valleys.

The Kushan and Kushano-Sasanid phases are characterized by the diffusion of Gandharanarchitecture and arts similar to those of Gandhara, Nagahara and Kapisa. The Hephtalite andTurkic phases show similarities to the late Gandharan art of Nagahara, Kapisa and Arachosia withcolossal statues and buildings with square plan around a large stupa. The post-Gandharan phase isa mix of late Gandharan and Chinese styles blended in the Tarim basin.

2.1. Termez and Chaghaniyan (Surkhandarya valley, regional centre: Termez)

The Surkhandarya region consists of the Uzbek part of the Surkhandarya river valley from thenorthern bank of the Amudarya in the south to the Tadjik border in the north and made of 2historical regions: Termez in the south and Chaghaniyan in the north with Dalverzin-tepe as maincentres. The main diffusion of Buddhism occurred here between the II and VII AD, concerningfirst the region nearer the Amudarya and later the upper Surkhandarya valley. Around 500 AD,most of the early Buddhist buildings were partially destroyed and often used as cemeteries. Lateron some constructions were repaired (the stupa of Fayaz-tepe) and new ones built (a small templein Kara-tepe and the presumed stupa of Tshor-Dinak). Xuan Zang crossing the area in the VII ADrevealed that Buddhism was still active at that time.

8 The vase is dated to or after Vima Kadphises (II AD) by G.Fussman, 1974, p.58-61.

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Fig.2- Map of the Buddhist sites of West Central Asia (Deom, Sala, 2010)

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Sites. The main sites, from west to east and south to north, are the following ones. Zar-tepe, 25 km at the NW of ancient Termez, is a square walled town built before the

Kushans and active till the VI AD. In the northwestern angle of the tepe, a Buddhist chapel(III-IV AD) was identified. A mound (Katlaman tepe) located 250 m east of the city wallshosted a stupa (IV-early V AD) built after the phase of disturbance following the Sasanid con-quest. A Buddha head and Kushan coins were found in these 2 sites.

In ancient Termez (7 km NW of the modern town) the earliest Buddhist monuments consistof: Kara-tepe, a main Buddhist complex consisting of a group of monastery-cave-temples (II-V AD) combining free standing buildings, yards and stupas and rooms dug inside a large ovalmound in the northwestern corner of the ancient town; Fayaz-tepe, a rectangular mound situ-ated outside the walls 800 m northeast of Kara-tepe, is a monastery complex made of 3 partswith a stupa in front of the central sanctuary (II-VI AD) which revealed polychrome frescoes,limestone and clay sculptures; the Zurmala Tower, a big stupa (II-IV AD), located 1 k m atthe southeast of the city walls, associated with limestone sculptures. An anonymous complexpreserving only an underground room including remains of Buddhist artifacts (II-IVAD) hasalso been excavated inside the eastern part of the old town.

Airtam, a Graeco-Bactrian walled settlement located 18 km east of ancient Termez andstretching over 90 ha along the right bank of the Amurdarya, consists of a Buddhist complexwith monastery, temple and stupa (II-III AD). Here were discovered sculptured stone capitalsknown as “Aïrtam Frieze” similar to those found in Fayaz-tepe and in the Swat valley inPakistan.

In Zang-Tepe, a castle located 30 km north of Termez, 12 fragments of Buddhist Brahmi San-skrit texts of the Vinaya Pitaka were exhumed, probably sheltered in a Buddhist stupa (III-IVAD ?).

In Dalverzin-tepe, a large Graeco-Bactrian and Kushan town (12 km north of Shurchi and 24km south of Kalchayan, the ancient capital of the Kushan), are located two Buddhist sanctuar-ies, the first is located at the north of the town walls (II-IVAD), the other inside the walls (III-IVAD). Both temples have revealed excellent clay statuaries of the Kushano-Sasanid period.

Tshor-Dinak, located 14km northwest of Dalverzin-tepe in the village of Khazarbag, dis-closed the ruins of a tower-shaped mound supposed to be a stupa (VI-VII AD).

Historical accounts. The historical sources testify the importance of Termez region during theKushan and Kushano-Sasanid periods (II-V AD), a Buddhist treaty (translated at the end of thefirst millennium in Tibetan) records the name of its original compiler, Dharmamitra, a monk fromTarmita (Termez) and the Chinese Buddhist biographies mention Dharmananda, a majortranslator of Hinayana texts from Tokharistan who stayed in China between 384 and 391. In the Surkhandarya valley, Buddhism continued its activity at a reduced speed under theHephtalite and Turkic rules (V-VIII AD) even if new Buddhist sites were built in the valley. When Xuan Zang crossed Termez in 630 AD he recorded about 10 monasteries with about 1000monks, stupas and Buddha’s images. At that time Buddhism was already waning here, as attestedby archaeology. But in Chaghaniyan on the upper Surkhandarya valley, he saw 5 monasterieswith few monks. In Akharun (Huluomo, Garm) at the east of Chaghaniyan (Tajikistan) he met 2monasteries with about 100 hundred monks; and in the kingdom of Shuman (south of Dushanbe)he found 2 monasteries with few monks.

Schools and styles. In Termez (Kara-tepe and Fayaz-tepe), early Buddhist inscriptions onpotteries and dedications on reliquaries in Kharosthi, Brahmi and Bactrian scripts belongpredominantly to the Mahasanghika school, and then to the Sarvastivada and Dharmaguptaka. As mentioned above, a monk from Tarmita (Termez) was the first translator of Buddhist textstranslated in Tibetan and the Chinese sources record that during the IV-VII AD the school ofTokharistan was very active in the transmission of Buddhist texts.

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In Zang-tepe many fragments on birch bark of the Vinaya Pitaka in Sanskrit and Brahmi scriptare similar to fragments in Bactrian language found in north Tarim. These elements confirm theimportance of the Bactrian Mahasanghika and Sarvastivada schools of the Termez region and oftheir connection with Tarim and Western China. The cave complex of Karatepe and the Zurmala tower are architecturally similar to caves andstupas of Nagarahara and Kapisa (Shewaki near Kabul).

2. 2. Kubadian (Kafirnigan valley, regional centre: Kobadian)

The Kafirnigan region, also known in history as Kubadian, consists of the valley of the lowercourse of the Kafirnigan river (Tadjikistan) from its confluence with the Amudarya in the south tothe southeastern piedmonts of the Babatag range in the north. Its ancient capital is the medievaltown of Kobadian, located 20 km north of Shaartuz, modern administrative centre of the valley. The diffusion of Buddhism occurred here between the II and VII AD, circumscribed to thenorthern bank of the Amudarya under the Kushans (II-V AD), and then in the Kafirnigan valleyunder the Hephtalite rule. Sites. The main sites, from west to east and south to north, are the following ones. Ushturmullo, a Buddhist stupa-monastery complex (II-VI AD) located on the left bank of the

Kafirnigan river near its confluence with the Amudarya, close to the village Shakh. The north-ern complex consists of a monastery with a central yard decorated with mural paintings, asanctuary surrounded by a circumbulatory corridor and adjacent monk cells, a meeting halland economic rooms. The southern part consists of a big stupa with a base made of stone re-liefs dated to 2 periods: the main period of activity (III-IV AD) and a phase of reconstruction(VI AD) adding 3 stairways at each side.

Kalai-Kafirnigan (also called Tokkuz-kala), a medieval town situated upstream on the leftbank of the Kafirnigan river near the village of Esambai 80 km southwest of Dushanbe, wherehave been found the remains of a Buddhist sanctuary complex with frescoes (V-VIII AD).The 3 periods building consists of a sanctuary with ambulatory corridor including wall paint-ings (VII-VIII AD) and statues of the Buddha and Lokapalas leading to a smaller shrine at itsback.

Historical accounts. Xuan Zang attests during the 630 AD the presence in the Kubadian kingdomof 3 monasteries with about 100 monks.

Schools and styles: According to Xuan Zang and Yijing (Chinese pilgrim who traveled here in694 AD), the orange robe of the Buddhist monks depicted on the wall painting of Kalai-Kafirnigan is an attribute of the Mahasanghika school.These frescoes, probably made by local Tokharian artists, belong to a Central Asian school of artalso active in Chaghaniyan, Margiana and Sogdia during the Western Turkic rule.

2. 3. Khuttalan (Vaksh and Pyandj valleys, regional centre: Kulyab)

Khuttalan is the historical region of Tadjikistan located on the right bank of the Pyandj riverbetween its confluence with the Vaksh and Kunduz river (where the Amudarya starts). It included2 sub-regions Vaksh in the southwest and Khuttal in the northeast. The diffusion of Buddhism occurred here between the VII-VIII AD.

Sites. The main sites, from west to east and south to north, are the following ones.

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Kafyr-kala, an early medieval square walled town located on the left bank of the middlecourse of the Vaksh river at the west of Kholkhozabad, where in the southeastern corner ofthe citadel was found the remains of a Buddhist domed sanctuary with frescoes surrounded byambulatory corridor (VI-VIII AD). A fragment of Buddhist birch-bark manuscript in Brahmiwas also exhumed in the citadel.

The World Heritage site of Adjina-tepe, located 12 km east of Kurgan-tube and 2 km south ofthe village of Kirovski on the left bank of the Vaksh river, consists of a Buddhist monasterycomplex made of two parts both centered around a courtyard. The northern court had a bigstupa with a cross-shaped plan and staircases at the orient, along the northern wall wereniches holding statues and the ambulatory corridor included a 12 m long reclining Buddha.The southern yard was surrounded by a vaulted corridor holding statues on pedestal, monkscells, meeting hall and shrines all built on two floors with adobes. The complex revealedmany frescoes and statues (VII-VIII AD).

Khisht-tepe, located on the left bank of the Obimazar-Yakshu river (a right tributary of thePyandj river), in the mountain area of Eastern Tadjikistan near Khovaling village, hosts theremains of a Buddhist monastery (VII-VIII AD). The complex made of pakhsa blocks andadobes had a square plan with a central courtyard and a sanctuary at the north surrounded bya corridor and flanked with room containing a stupa at its south. Here and in other rooms ofthe complex were found small votive stupas and clay tablets with Buddhist texts.

Historical accounts. Xuan Zang in 631 AD didn’t meet any Buddhist activity in Vaksh andKhottal, but according to Hui Chao who crossed the region in 726, half of the population ofKhuttalan was Turkic and, together with its Turkic ruler, was devoted to Hinayana Buddhism andsupported many monasteries.

Schools and styles. The absence in the iconography of Adjina-tepe and Kafyr-kala of earlyGandharan representations of Jataka stories and the repetition of ‘thousands Buddhas’ imageswitnesses artistic trends of the Turkic period, i.e. the predominance of Mahasanghika andLokottaravada schools privileging the representation of the supramundane Buddha against theone of the historical Buddha. The theme of the assaults of terrible spirits in the sculptured décorof Adjina-tepe (VII-VIII AD) is met during the same period in monuments of AfghanistanFergana and Tarim. The plan of the Buddhist temples of Vaksh and Khuttal, although revealingsome local Tokharistan adaptations, is very similar to the architecture of Kapisa. But the wallpaintings, here like in all Bactria-Tokharistan, display an original school of art.

2.4. - Badakhshan (upper Pyandj and Wakkhan valleys)

Badakhshan is considered here in its broad denotation corresponding to the modernadministrative regions of Badakhshan in Afghanistan incorporating the Wakkhan corridor andGorno-Badakhshan in Tadjikistan including all the Pamir region. As an historical region it wasdelimited to the region of Fayzabad and Khorog while Shughnan, Wakhan and Pamir were someof the several kingdoms covering the area. It provided the shortest and most used trade roadbetween Kashgar and Bactria-Tocharistan and was already known by the Chinese dynastic annalsof the Northern dynasties, Beishi (concerning the IV-VI centuries but written in the VII AD), asthe country where the Hephtalites had their headquarters. The diffusion of Buddhism occurredhere between the IV-VII AD.

Site. Even if Chinese pilgrims recorded the activity of several Buddhist monasteries in the region,there is only one Buddhist archaeological site documented in the Tadjik side of the Wakkhanvalley.

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- Built on the hill side of a rocky moraine along the river Vrangdara at his confluence withthe Pyandj near Vrang, there is a complex made of a fortified convent, a group of 11 cavesdug in the rock (Vrang II) and a stupa in the village (IV-VII AD). The monastery is organizedaround a central yard including a temple and the living quarters of the monks (Vrang III), allbuilt in crude bricks above a stone foundation.

Historical accounts. The first mention of Buddhist activities in Badakhshan is coming from theChinese pilgrim Hui Sheng (travelled between 516-523) who reported that the capital Badiyanhad many Buddhist temples and a holy gilded pillar. On his way back to China through the Pamirs, Xuan Zang met several Buddhist monasteriescrossing this area. In Badakhshan where the king was a devoted Buddhist, he noted the existenceof 3-4 sangharamas but very few monks, further east, crossing the Wakhan corridor, he met 10convents and an important monastery in the capital (around Vrang or Langar) and in the countrylocated at its south (near Mastudj) there were 2 monasteries with few monks. At the east of the Pamirs, he found other important monastic foundations. In Tashkurgan, therewere 10 monasteries and around 500 monks belonging to the Sarvastivada school. Xuan Zangrelates that a former king of this country brought back from Taxila the founder of the Sautantrikaschool, Kumaralabdha, who built a sangharama in the capital. In the next, probably southern,state called Wucha existed 10 monasteries and less than 1000 monks related to the Sarvastivadaschool.

2.5 - Margiana (Murghab valley, regional centre: Merv)

Margiana, consists of the large delta of the Murghab river (Turkmenistan) with Bayram-ali asmodern centre. The region has been a main centre of the Parthian Kingdom (III BC-III AD).Although the Parthians, as rulers of Gandhara (I AD) and then as Buddhist monks, played a majorrole in the earliest spread of Buddhism from India and Gandhara to Central Asia and China, noBuddhist remains is to be found in Margiana before the IV AD. Buddhism reached the oasisunder the Kushano-Sasanid rule (IV AD) and had been active till the Arab invasion (VII AD).

Sites . Some Buddhist monuments are located in the area of ancient Merv, 2 km north of modernBayram-ali) In the site of Gyaur-kala in ancient Merv, two Buddhist monuments have been discovered.

The first is situated in the southeast angle of the walled mound and consists of a Buddhisttemple-monastery complex with stupa (IV-VI AD), the second is a great stupa located outsidethe eastern walls (V-VI AD).

Historical accounts. The Parthians, as rulers of Gandhara in I AD, played a major role in theearliest spread of Buddhism from India and Gandhara to Central Asia and China. The first foreigntranslator of Buddhist scriptures in Chinese, An Shigao has been often considered to be a Parthianprince because of his Arsacid family name (An) but he was probably a native of Bukhara (seenext paragraph). Schools and styles. Inside the 2 stupas of Gyaur-kala have been found 150 sheets on birch barkwith Buddhist texts of the Vinaya Pitaka in Sanskrit and Brahmi, and also some inscriptions onvessels, all ascribed to the Sarvastivada school. The great stupa outside the walls, rebuilt in the V AD, show architectural features similar to thoseof Gandhara and Termez (Kara-tepe).

2.5. Sogdia (Zeravashan valley, regional centre: Samarkand)

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Sogdia, is the historical region made of the Zeravshan valley stretching from the Turkestan range(Tadjikistan) in the east (ancient Usrushana) across Samarcanda to the oasis of Bukhara in thewest (Uzbekistan). The historical region of Sogdia included also the adjacent regions of theNuratau range in the north and of the Kashkadarya valley in the south.The diffusion of Buddhism probably occurred here during the V-VIII AD, mainly among Sogdianfamilies trading on the Silk Road between NW India and China.

Sites . Although no Buddhist sites have been clearly individuates on the territory of ancientSogdia, several ruins, some archaeological findings and historical accounts testify the presence ofBuddhism in the Zeravshan valley during the V-VIII AD. The most convincing evidence isrepresented by the following sites, from west to east. Bukhara. The name of the town itself could be a Sogdian derivation from vihara (monastery)

as attested by the Arab writer Juvayni. Another Arab writer, Narshaki, reports that the firstmosque of Bukhara was built on the ancient citadel, on the site previously occupied by a tem-ple (botkhana) that could have been a Buddhist temple.

Afrasyab (ancient Samarkand). Here excavations exhumed a Buddhist bronze statuette inChinese Wei style (VI AD)

Penjikent, located at the mouth of the upper Zeravshan valley (in Tadjikistan). Here the exca-vations of a mansion exhumed some frescos with Buddhist representations (700-750 AD), in-cluding a fragmentary representation of Buddha and of a monk. Another construction (temple2) has been thought to be used for Buddhist dramatic representation (according to the archae-ologist B. Marshak). Among other Buddhist findings of Penjikent, figure a Sogdian Buddhistinscription and a terracotta mould (VI AD).

Sanzar, located in the Nuratau range at the northeast of Samarkand, holds the ruins of a so-called Buddhist temple that has been leveled and its Buddhist objects disseminated, so thatthe scientific identification and dating of the site remain difficult (V-VI AD, according to thearchaeologist B. Stavisky),

Saryk-tepe and Kul-tepe (in the Kashkadarya valley, district of Yakabag). Here have beenfound two fragments of terracotta high-relief: respectively of a Buddha and of a sittingcrowned Buddha with a Bodhisatva (VI-VIII AD). some

Historical accounts. According to the historical sources, the Sogdians have been among the firstCentral Asian peoples to participate to the spread Buddhism from Gandhara to Central and EastAsia. Two Samarkandi monks, Kang Ju (187-199 AD) and Kang Mengxiang (190-220 AD), wereamong the first translators to work with the Bukharan An Shigao9 who reached Luoyang in 148where he worked for 40 years as master of a group of translators (mostly Central Asians andIndians) transferring in Chinese language 170 texts. One of his disciples was An Xuan, born in afamily of merchants who arrived in Luoyang in 181. One century later, An Faqing born in Chinaworked in the group of translators directed by the Kushan monk Dharmaraksha (Zhi Fahu, 230-286). Kang Senghui (222-280) was born in Jiaozhou (modern Hanoi) in a Sogdian family of merchantsand had been the first monk to spread Buddhism in Nanjing. During the following centuries (III-VIII AD) several Sogdian translators worked in China, of whom the most were born in Chinaitself.The Chinese dynastical annals Suishu (around 620 AD) and Beishi (660 AD) report that thepeople of Kang believe in Buddhism; and the Tangshu annals (930 AD) report that they areBuddhist and sacrifice to the sky. But Xuan Zang in 630 AD notes that in Sogdia “the king andpeople don’t believe in Buddhism but venerate the fire”. He also says that in Samarkand there are2 Buddhist monasteries without monks which local people would impeach foreigners to approach9 The family name An has been considered to designate the Parthian Arsacid family but An is also the name of the kingdom of Bukhara and, in fact, among the numerous Bukharans present at the court of China from the Wei dynastyonwards (IV AD), some were considered to be relative of An Shigao.

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by chasing them with torches. According to the biographers of Xuan Zang, after a while anassembly was organized by local authorities and the monks were allowed to come back. In factHui Chao, who came to Samarkand one century later, saw one monastery with one monk.Even if Buddhism was scarcely represented in Sogdia, Buddhism was the religion of numerousSogdian merchants trading on the Silk Road between India, Gandhara and China. Among theBuddhist rock inscriptions of the Karakorum pass (I-VIII AD) figure many Sogdian writings andnames. In Tarim and Dunhuang a lot of inscriptions, letters and Buddhist manuscripts have beenfound in Sogdian script and language.

Schools and styles. According to B. Marshak, the sculptured decor with aquatic scenes of temple-2 of Penjikent show very close similarities with the niche of Tepe-i-Shotor in Hadda. Somesimilarities are also found with the sculptures of Ushkur in Kashmir.

2.4. Fergana (Fergana valley, regional centre: Kuba)

The Fergana valley, or more precisely its southern part, consisting of the northern piedmonts ofthe Alai range (Uzbekistan), received the diffusion of Buddhism probably during the Chineseprotectorate in Central Asia (657-751) when Buddhist communities from Tarim immigrated intoFergana (VII-VIII AD).

Sites. Kuba is an early medieval walled town in the center of the modern city of Kuva where at thenorth of the shahristan outside the walls was located a Buddhist sanctuary including claysculptures of horses and big statues of Buddha and the Buddhist pantheon (VII-VIII AD).

Historical accounts. Hui Chao, who crossed the valley in 724, reported that there were nofollowers of Buddhism in the region. May be, by the time, the Arab invasion already destroyedthe Kuba sanctuary.

Schools and styles. Like in Ghazni, in Adjina-tepe and in Tarim, the clay sculptures of Kubarepresenting emaciated arahants confronted by Tantric deities (Shridevi) belong to the lastdevelopment of Buddhist art during the VII-VIII AD.

2.5. Semirechie (Chu valley, regional centre: Suyab)

In the eastern segment of the Chu valley located on the northern piedmonts of the Alatau range(Northern Tienshan) around the modern town of Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan), Buddhism got probablydiffused during the time of the Chinese protectorate in Central Asia (657-751) together with theimmigration of Buddhist communities from Tarim and China. The main sites are located in 2important medieval towns and in smaller medieval mounds around Bishkek.

Sites. The main sites, from east to west and south to north, are the following ones. Ak-Beshim (ancient Suyab), a medieval town located 60 km east of Bishkek that has been the

capital town of the Western Turks and one of the 4 Chinese garrisons in the Western Regions.Here have been discovered one Buddhist monastery and two temples. The monastery locatedin the eastern rabat (suburbs), is adjoined with a small chapel and a larger area with living quar-ters dated to the IX-X AD. It had 2 periods of construction of which the characters testifyUighur influences from Tarim. The Buddhist temple-1 is situated outside the southwesterntower of the town and has a rectangular shape with large courtyard following the entrancewith side premises, 6 rooms, a sanctuary with vestibule and another sanctuary with ambula-

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tory corridor (VII-VIII AD). The Buddhist temple-2 is located outside the southern walls andhas a square shape with double ambulatory corridor and 4 entrances surrounding a centralvaulted room (VII-VIII AD).

Krasnaya Rechka (ancient Navaket) is a medieval town located 40 km east from Bishkek,probably corresponding to the ancient capital of the Turk Turghesh (699-751). Here 2 Bud-dhist temples and a monastery complex with a stupa have been excavated (VII-VIII AD). Thefirst Buddhist temple, located outside the southern gate of the large citadel, revealed fragmentsof painted stuccoes and sculptures. The ruins of the second Buddhist temple, located 300 msouth-east of the citadel, consist of a domed sanctuary with a roofed ambulatory corridorwhere big clay statues, including a reclining Buddha have been exhumed. The monasterycomplex located in the western suburbs of the town is made of a 12 m high stupa and a seriesof premises among which a sanctuary with a sitting Buddha has been recently excavated(2010-14).

Novopokrovka-II is a medieval square fort (tortkul) located 10 km east of Bishkek where localpeople found 20 bronze gilded Buddhist statuettes. Later excavations led archaeologists to con-sider this site to be a Buddhist monastery (VIII-IX AD).

Novopavlovka is another medieval square mound located 10 km west of Bishkek and mostlydestroyed by a modern cemetery. Here were found numerous small rooms with Buddhist fres-coes and some clay sculptures supposed to be the vestiges of a monastery (VII-VIII AD)

Historical accounts. The Chinese sources report that, in 626 AD i.e. 3 years before the arrival ofXuan Zang, a group of 10 Indian Buddhist monks crossed Semirechie during the rule of the Turkickhagan Tong-Yabghu, who tried to retain them there. Xuan Zang himself didn’t find any trace ofBuddhist presence in the Chu valley but had been similarly requested by the khagan to stop there.Du Huan, a Chinese envoy who crossed the region in 751 just after the battle of Talas and wascaptured by the Arabs, reported the activity of a Chinese monastery called "Da Yunsi" (the BigCloud monastery) in Suyab (Ak-Beshim).

Schools and styles . Most of the Buddhist monuments, sculptures, wall paintings and objects of theChu valley show close architectural and artistic similarities with the Buddhist sites of Northern Tarim(Turfan, Yanqi and Tumshuq) and China. In particular the temple 1 of Ak-Beshim is probably corresponding to the Chinese monastery "BigCloud" mentioned by Du Huan because of its dating, planning and of its large statues of Buddhaand Maitreya. “Big Cloud” was the name given to all the Buddhist monasteries built all overChina and Central Asia (similar ones were built in Kashgar and Kucha) by the empress Wu Hou(Wu Zitian, 690–705) when, after 692, she adopted a Buddhist messianic policy on the base ofthe “Commentary of the Sutra of the Big Cloud” (Da Yunjing, clearly a Mahayanic text andpossibly of the Sukhavati school, the most imbued of Taoist elements).

CONCLUSIONS

The Buddhist sites enlisted here amount to 84 sites, 61 in Afghanistan and 23 in Western CentralAsia. In Afghanistan, the highest concentration is located in the regions closer to Gandhara: inNagarahara around Jalalabad (16 sites with more than 30 monuments, not counting the stupas andcaves); and in Kapisa around Kabul (10 sites with around 20 buildings). In Western Central Asia,the highest concentration is found around Termez (6 sites with 7 buildings) and around Bishkek (4sites with 8 buildings).The peak of Buddhist building happened during the early Kushan period (II AD) when 30 % ofthe sites were established, and under the LateKushan-Kidarite period (IV AD) when 20 % of thesites were erected.

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The inventory presented here doesn’t pretend to be exhaustive. If we sum up all the sites recordedby the Chinese pilgrims, there should be around 500 sites in Afghanistan and around 40 in WestCentral Asia. Every year, new Buddhist sites are found in Afghanistan; and the large amount ofsettlements bearing a Buddhist name (like bahar, from vihara - monastery), if proved tocorrespond to what it designates, would seriously increase the quantity of identified Buddhistconstructions. Moreover, the Buddhist sites were not only located along the interregional trade roads but in areastill badly explored: the sites of Humai-Qala, Wardak, Al-Ghata, Mes-Aynak, Khisht-tepe are infact located in remote valleys, probably connected with the rule of local aristocracies, in a mannersimilar to the wide distribution of Lamaist monasteries in Tibet during the XV AD.

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